The BofA Cash Rewards card finally came today (although my previous card has been operating like one since the beginning of the month). One big mistake...no EMV chip after I specifically asked for one (and they have offered it as part of the pitch). I'm not sure why his happened but Amex made a similar screwup on my Platinum cards last week. Hopefully they will get it right when I complain about it on Monday.

This card is terrible! It has 1% base rewards (beaten by the many No AF unlimited 2% on everything cards), 2% on groceries (that can be matched by aforementioned 2% cards, except without a cap, unlike this card, and beaten by countless cards), and 3% on gas (which is beaten by the PenFed PRG and SallieMae/Barclay Mastercard, the former also not having a cap and beating the groceries). Strictly inferior in every category. The PenFed card even beats it in every single category* by itself (no cards to supplement) and without a cap!*Except for base rewards, which it matches.

First, the card is hardly "terrible". I would agree that there are better products out there. But let's review...ive already been carrying this card's predecessor since 2008 and I currently enjoy a $20k limit, so that alone helps me. But it's certainly better than the World MasterCard and it's points system since I get a 10% cash back bonus for having a BofA checking account. And since I don't carry the PenFed (yet) and haven't applied for the BCP, USBank Cash+ or anything else, I have to use what I have in conjunction with the Freedom card already in my wallet.

One thing about the 2% card world...there are very few of them for a reason...it's hard to make money off of them. Virtually all of them make you wait for the prize or have some other method for you to keep the money with them. For NASA, the reward comes after a year. For Fidelity, the idea is to roll the money into a savings or retirement vehicle, which if you already are a Fidelity customer, this makes some sense (like in my situation).

EDIT: I really haven't included business cards in this calculus. The Cap One Spark Cash is probably a 2% card I'd consider even with the $59 AF. I spend enough in non-categories with other cards to easily make this worth it. But the Fidelity card would dump to an IRA or a kids college fund which my wife likes a lot, and there's no AF.

And finally, my next inquiry is not likely to be a card at all. I'll probably approach my credit union to refi the house and see if I can lock in a sub-3% rate before rates start moving in the wrong direction the housing market. If I can get that done, I'll next round out the credit products we need between my wife and myself. As I've said before, I'm not above applying for two different BCP cards (one for me, one for my wife) in order to get around the caps for groceries.

The BankAmericard is NOT terrible. Yes, there are better, but there are also a lot worse, Citibank Dividend and even the Capital One Cash Rewards card to name a few.

If, like me, you spend mostly on regular everyday living expenses...the Bank Americard Cash Reward card is pretty darn good. Freedom, Dividend and Discover offer 5% bonus catagories that usually have no meaning for me; BCE redeems the cash back as a statement credit and there are still the issues of AMEX not being accepted everywhere.

I have several cash back cards: Discover, Dividend, Freedom, BofA Accelerated Cash Rewards Amex, BofA Cash Rewards and a local bank's 1% card...the only one I reach for time and time again is the Cash Rewards. Its easy, no signing up, I get the 10% bonus for having the reward deposited to my BofA checking and I have also been using the Add It Up and BankAmerideals pretty frequently.

Just because you have the card and not the better ones doesn't make it better. The Cash+ offers similar bonuses, not to mention the $25 annual reward for $100+ redemption, and you'll get better interest rates and less fees at Ally Bank than BofA for deposits. What you say about 2% on everything cards isn't true, my platinum visa from 1FB has none of those drawbacks, no AF, its as convenient as it gets with the statement credit being applied automatically as each statement cuts and with no minimum. Helps your credit too, as it reports the high balance before the cash back and the current balance with the credit already applied.

Bksuper wrote:Just because you have the card and not the better ones doesn't make it better. The Cash+ offers similar bonuses, not to mention the $25 annual reward for $100+ redemption, and you'll get better interest rates and less fees at Ally Bank than BofA for deposits. What you say about 2% on everything cards isn't true, my platinum visa from 1FB has none of those drawbacks, no AF, its as convenient as it gets with the statement credit being applied automatically as each statement cuts and with no minimum. Helps your credit too, as it reports the high balance before the cash back and the current balance with the credit already applied.

I do like the USBank Cash+...I may indeed try for that since it's 5% categories would be an appreciable dent in my budget.

As for the 1FB card, you do realize that not all of us are students? The credit products in your sig are indicative of your age and station in life. I'm probably 25 years older than you and would have access to different products and have different needs.

There are loopholes to easily obtain student cards wo./ being a student. Ive been saying in other threads that non-students can register for a single online community college class, apply, then drop by the deadline for a full refund.

This company also caters to college graduates, so if you have a degree you could probably get an invite. Even if that were not so, there is also the Priceline Visa and you can open up a cash management account at Fidelity that can be ACH transferred to any bank and has no fees for a Fidelity Amex.

You may have different needs than me, but my point is that if your needs/aim is/are to get the most cash back on gas groceries, and other purchases, this is not the card for any of the three, even if you don't supplement with multiple cards, and especially if you do.

Bksuper wrote:There are loopholes to easily obtain student cards wo./ being a student. Ive been saying in other threads that non-students can register for a single online community college class, apply, then drop by the deadline for a full refund.

This company also caters to college graduates, so if you have a degree you could probably get an invite. Even if that were not so, there is also the Priceline Visa and you can open up a cash management account at Fidelity that can be ACH transferred to any bank and has no fees for a Fidelity Amex.

You may have different needs than me, but my point is that if your needs/aim is/are to get the most cash back on gas groceries, and other purchases, this is not the card for any of the three, even if you don't supplement with multiple cards, and especially if you do.

I admire your tenacity about all this. But when you get a little older, you'll find that your patience for doing some of the extreme things to get a card (like enrolling in a local college just to drop the course) will wear thin in a hurry. This is why I see little benefit in buying up every gift card ever created just to save $5. Time is valuable and precious, even more so than money.

Right now my wife and I have a plan to cut a nice amount from our budget with the judicious use of certain credit products in specific situations. But my wife also wants to have a pretty good idea what to use and when. The system we use cannot be so complicated that she'll throw it out the window or worse, lose track of how we're spending as a whole and wind up over budget. Our budget spreadsheet now contains line items for the BofA Reward Card, Chase Freedom categories, and using Amex Platinum for trips and Costco. Add to that projected cards from Amex BCP ($285 projected savings), USBank Cash+ ($500 projected savings) and Penfed ($620 projected savings) and specific tasks for them. Finally, I can see adding to the mix the Fidelity card which would replace the BofA card as the 1% "catch all" product. That product alone may save us $800-$1000 a year.

I understand that I don't hassle with gift cards either. Im not saying time isn't scarce; I spend about 60-80 hours per week on my schoolwork and do the winter and summer sessions so that I can take enough credits to get my BS in 3 years, so believe me I really do. But when a one time investment of a few hours can yield hundreds of tax free dollars per year, as in your case, I do it. You may feel differently and thats completely fine; I guess it just depends on what you value your time.

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